Government Reforms Workforce Australia With Three-Tier Support Model and Relaxed Requirements for Some Jobseekers

Support under the new model could range from language classes to assistance enrolling in education, mentoring or help setting up a small business. Harper said skilled workers in construction and care sectors were in high demand and that activating those skills would bring "tremendous benefits" and a downstream impact on social cohesion.

Melinda Collinson, chief executive of AMES Australia, said the organisation had seen how specialist services embedded in the mainstream system could improve employment outcomes. "We welcome the move because it will create more flexible and individually tailored pathways to employment, especially for groups of people with significant barriers," she said.

A public discussion paper on the changes is open for submissions until July 31.

An expert group has been set up to provide advice, and expressions of interest have been sought for a lived experience panel whose members may share experiences through reference groups, surveys or focus groups. Collinson said it is important that employment programs are informed by people who have walked the jobseeker journey.

She welcomed recent budget initiatives on improving skills recognition for migrants and refugees.

Harper said the Inclusive Employment Australia program, which supports NDIS recipients looking for work, should serve as a model for the reformed Workforce Australia. SSI has been providing support to refugees with a disability under that program and has recorded significant success even in its early stages, he said.

Harper also called for changes to the mutual obligation program, which requires participants to apply for a set number of jobs, attend meetings with service providers and accept suitable job offers.

He said the current system can create issues for new Australians, particularly refugees who may be work-ready but have experienced trauma or have a disability. A spokesperson for the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations said feedback was being sought from stakeholders, including organisations supporting culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

Some members of the advisory group represent the experiences of specific demographic cohorts within the employment services system, the spokesperson said.

Harsimran, a domestic violence survivor and single mother who moved to Melbourne from India in 2023, is one person the new system is intended to help. She arrived with only a high school education, no real qualifications, no family support and was renting a single room in a share house with her teenage son. "At first I was struggling," Harsimran told ABC News.

"As a single parent and a new person of a new country, it is very difficult. " AMES Australia assigned her an employment mentor who helped her obtain a driving licence, English lessons and an interest-free loan from Good Shepherd to buy a car. The agency also helped her secure a job as a cleaner that progressed to a production role.

"They helped me in so many ways," Harsimran said. She is now enrolled in a Certificate III in Individual Support course to work in the aged or disability care sector. Before securing employment, Harsimran said she was struggling to pay rent, groceries and her son's expenses, had no house of her own and was very stressed.

I'm crying by myself because I don't want to cry in front of my son," she said. After obtaining work through AMES, she said she can now afford to rent a house of her own. "Now I'm very happy," she said.

"When I got a job, I felt proud of myself and feel like I'm doing good.